Patient No. 435, Session 1: Thighs liposuction on a slim former Australian model and beauty queen

Does an athletic and slim former model need liposuction? Isn’t liposuction for fat people only Wrong! As a matter of fact, fat people are not ideal candidate for liposuction. The first question Dr Arthur Tjandra of Elixir de Vie asks when he screens his prospective patients for liposuction is, “What is your height and weight?” All patients with BMI of 27 and above get rejected straight away. Liposuction is a sculpting tool to get rid of stubborn fat on someone who is already fit and slim. It is not for overweight or obese people. There is a safe limit of how much fat can be taken out in liposuction. If you have 8 liters of fat in your tummy, taking out 3 liters is not going to make you appear better. As a matter of fact, you may even look worse after liposuction because of the loose skin.

However, it is much easier for a novice surgeon to perform liposuction on a fat patient. The fat layer is so thick, there is plenty of room for error and……..training! When Dr Arthur Tjandra was still training in New York, they used poor and extremely obese South American patients as training subjects. No matter where you poke, you will still be in the fat layer. It is almost impossible to go beyond the fat layer and poke into the lungs or intestines, for instance. The opposite is true for someone who is already slim. The fat layer is thin, there is no room for error. Any slight over- or under-aspiration of the fat will immediately show up on the skin as irregularity and dent. If one is not careful, the cannula may also end up where it is not supposed to go, such as the lungs, liver or intestines! Don’t laugh! This has happened before. Read our Liposuction Case Studies! Hence, it requires more skill and experience to perform liposuction on a slim patient compared to a fat patient!

Anyway, this Australian former model who is in her mid-30s, is still in pretty good shape when she comes to Dr Arthur Tjandra of Elixir de Vie. She has seen various plastic surgeons in Australia who all turned her away as some advised her that she had no fat to aspirate, while some said that although it was possible to perform liposuction for her, the risk of getting irregularity or dents is extremely high, because she has not much fat. This is exactly like what Dr Arthur Tjandra has said above! Dr Arthur Tjandra of Elixir de Vie accepts this patient and performs liposuction on her thighs, which he called “gigantic” (by his standard), aspirating 3.5 liters of fat out! The series of videos below takes you through the journey. Dr Arthur Tjandra also criticizes her body and pinches her fat everywhere as he does a whole body assessment, a habit which invites criticism from some of his patients. Some of his patients think it is rude for him to criticize their bodies. But, seriously, you visit a plastic surgeon, pay huge sum of money, in order for him to praise you??? Seriously????

This patient blogs about her experience here: Couples Cosmetic Surgery, again another halfhearted blog which she abandons after she completes her second session of liposuction, 5 weeks after her first session.

Video 1: Pre-operative assessment of the whole body.

Video 2: Pre-operative marking of thighs.

Video 3: Thick saddle bags = granny butts!

Video 4: Awake syringe liposuction under local anesthesia.

Video 5: Completion of left thigh liposuction. A comparison between right and left thighs: before and after liposuction.